Austrian football and especially Rapid Vienna mourns the loss of legendary player Leopold Grausam. The former striker died on Friday at the age of 81, as the club announced on Monday.
Grausam, born on June 29th in Vienna-Kagran, came to Rapid at the age of 16 and played for Hütteldorfer from 1963 to 1970. In his competitive debut, Grausam contributed four goals to the 5-0 win over Kapfenberg.
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During his time at Rapid, the striker, who also wore the ÖFB team jersey eight times and was a goalscorer three times, scored 70 goals in 180 competitive games for Rapid and became champions three times and cup winners twice with the Viennese team. After his time at Rapid, Grausam also played briefly for Wacker Innsbruck and LASK.
“The news of Leopold Grausam’s passing makes me very sad. He was one of those players who contributed an enormously important part to SK Rapid’s fame, and he enjoyed taking an active part in club life as long as he could. We will keep a worthy memory of Mr. Grausam,” said Rapid managing director Steffen Hofmann in a statement in which he also expressed his “most sincere condolences” to the deceased’s surviving relatives.